Emmanuel Adebayor of Manchester City celebrates scoring during the UEFA Europa League match against KKS Lech Poznan on November 4, 2010 (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Emmanuel Adebayor says he takes great pride in his role in helping Manchester City reach the top of global club football, even though the Togolese never won a trophy during his time with the club.
The forward, who brought the curtain down on his career earlier this month with a testimonial in Lomé, joined City in July 2009 on a five-year deal. Had he seen out his contract, he could have been part of City’s 2012 and 2014 Premier League titles as well as the 2011 FA Cup success.
But, after falling out of favour under former manager Roberto Mancini, who oversaw the inaugural title win in May 2012, Adebayor spent the second half of the 2010-11 season with Real Madrid before joining Spurs in August 2011.
Nonetheless, he bears no grudge towards the club – which has won the Champions League, eight Premier League titles, and three FA Cups since his departure – enthusing instead about fulfilling a vision laid out to him 15 years ago.
“What Manchester City are doing is incredible, and it’s just beautiful,” said the 40-year-old, who became the first player from the club to score a hat-trick in European football (against Poland’s Lech Poznan in 2010),” said Adebayor to RG. “That’s why I’m happy for Man City. What they told me in negotiations to bring me to the club is what they are achieving today.
“We started the project and today, it’s part of me. I’m very proud of that and today I can tap myself on the back and say , ‘Yes, we are the ones who started the Man City project’. I’m really happy because I consider myself part of the club’s history.”
Fulfilling a Vision
Adebayor is particularly impressed that the vision laid out to him in 2009 by City, which had been bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has come to pass. Just to show how special City’s achievements truly are, Adebayor compared them to another high-profile European club with Middle Eastern backing that has failed to deliver on its main aim despite vast investment.
“Some clubs will tell you: ‘If you come, this is the project, we want to do this, this and this’ – and at the end of the day, they will try to do it, but it will not happen for them,” he explained. “Look at Paris Saint Germain – they bought Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kylian Mbappe and Angel di Maria but still did not win the Champions League.”
Since being bought by Qatari owners in 2011, the closest PSG have come to fulfilling their European dream – despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the world’s top players – was when finishing runners-up in 2020.
In contrast, not only did Pep Guardiola’s City conquer Europe in 2023, but they also won the Premier League and FA Cup that season to become only the second English club to achieve the ‘treble’ – emulating the 1999 feat of rivals Manchester United.
“Doing the treble in a country like England is hard. Even footballers from Spain, Italy, France, Belgium and Holland know that the Premier League is different.”
Surprised by Arteta
Prior to joining Manchester City, Adebayor had been playing for Arsenal – appearing in 142 games and scoring 62 goals; just under half of which came in 2008 when his form was so impressive he was crowned the African Footballer of the Year.
Adebayor’s journey north from London was copied by Mikel Arteta, who moved up to Manchester after his playing career ended with Arsenal in 2016 to learn from coach Pep Guardiola. Arteta has since gone on to become the manager for their former club, Arsenal
Under the Spaniard’s guidance, Arsenal have improved every season, finishing 8th in 2020 (56 points), 8th in 2021 (61 points), 5th in 2022 (69 points), 2nd in 2023 (84 points) and 2nd again earlier this year (89 points).
But the Togolese, who also played in France, Turkey and Paraguay during his career, said he was initially doubtful that Arteta, now 42, would succeed.
But, against the expectations of most, Arteta has been nothing short of stellar as manager for the Gunners over the last few years.
“We’re all surprised by what he has done and what he has achieved in these few years. He has been challenging for the title,” said Adebayor. “The only coach to have done better for Arsenal [in the Premier League era] is Arsene Wenger.”
During his legendary 22-year reign as manager of Arsenal, Wenger won three Premier Leagues, including Arsenal’s last in 2004, and seven FA Cups.
Those are big shoes to fill, but Arteta has held his own so far.
Title Race
After a decade of Premier League dominance from City, Adebayor would like to see the trophy move south to London, which would be a first since Chelsea won in 2017, while the Gunners are targeting a first-place finish for the first time since 2004.
“I would not mind seeing Arsenal winning the league this season, but we all know how good Man City is,” he cautions.
However, the defending Premier League champions are currently struggling – having suffered four straight defeats for the first time since Guardiola became manager in 2016.
Two of the losses came in the Premier League, where City – playing through a flew of injuries, none more debilitating than the ligament injury that has ruled influential midfielder Rodri out for the season – currently sit second after 11 games with 23 points, five behind leaders Liverpool.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have 19 points after also suffering the absence of a key midfielder Norwegian Martin Odegard, who has only just recently returned to action after a two-month absence
Manchester City hopes that John Stones and Ruben Dias, their first-choice central defensive pairing, can return after the international break from the injury ward.
Adebayor admits that it may be a little more of a process for Arsenal, who doesn’t necessarily have the star power or experience of City to help propel them to lengthy winning streaks.
“It’s going to be hard for Arsenal because while they have a few great players, but, at some point, you will need experience – which they lack,” said Adebayor. “When you have a player with three or four league titles on your team competing against a team that has maybe only one, or even none, it’s hard.”
When asked which of his former teams would be best positioned to win the league title this season, Adebayor went with experience as the deciding factor.
“Experience is key. History shows us that Man City has the chance to win league again, if it comes to a challenge with Arsenal,” he said.
Only three players on Arsenal’s squad have won the Premier League before, with Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Oleksandr Zinchenko all winning four titles each earlier in their career when playing for none other than Manchester City.
Liverpool, the only club to foil City’s quest of winning the league title in the last seven seasons, are statistically favored to win the title this season. That’s because every Premier League team that has had a five-point advantage in the standings after 11 games have gone on to be crowned that season’s champion.
Piers Edwards is an international journalist, broadcaster, and commentator with over 25 years of experience covering global sport. Having worked for the BBC and CNN among others, Piers has regularly delivered high-impact content to a vast global audience. A former BBC World radio and TV presenter, he is an expert on international football, particularly in Europe, Africa – where he works as a commentator for the Confederation of African Football – and Asia. He has also worked on several investigations, exposing corruption in global football administration, the trafficking of minors and, among others, sexual abuse in sport.
